An Australian activewear brand accused of appropriating Māori culture has changed its controversial name from AROHA to VYRA.
“The brand we started is no longer the brand we are becoming. And so we close the chapter of AROHA with gratitude,” the brand posted yesterday.
The brand faced criticism when owner Katie Bourke - who does not whakapapa Māori according to her website - posted a now-deleted video saying she chose the name to be “different”.
The name change announcement came with a black and white logo and the slogan “move with strength”.
“We step forward into a new era, one defined not just by how we feel but by what we are capable of,” the brand wrote.
“This isn’t a rebrand. It’s a reflection of who we are now.”
The brand came under fire when Māori creators called them out on social media.
Bourke posted a video addressing the controversy, claiming to have never identified as a Māori brand, and saying she had been transparent about this.
“We’ve always advised them that we are not a Māori brand, but we are inspired by the meaning of love.”
However, as the controversy progressed, it emerged that the brand had previously claimed to be Māori-owned.
A social media user posted a screenshot of the comment on Bourke’s latest video, to which the brand responded: “Our platforms are used by many people and one of [our] workers thought the owner was Māori.”
The three-minute-long video posted two weeks ago showed the owner sitting down in her brand’s activewear, apologising to “the entire Māori culture”.
“Our intentions were never to offend any of you, it was purely based on the fact that we wanted our brand surrounded by love.”
“To everyone who is upset regarding our decision in regards to naming the company AROHA, there is absolutely no disrespect towards you. It was ... because we actually loved and we wanted to spread love through your language.”
At the time, she did not confirm a name change, saying it wasn’t something that could happen overnight.
Bourke said they were not aware of the cultural ties the word had until six months ago, having only done “surface research”.
Bourke repeated that her choice to choose a Māori name was to set the brand apart.
“We didn’t want to use an Australian name of love, we thought it was quite boring. We did want to use aroha cause it was different and unique.”
Māori creator Holly May-Neho, who led the push for the name change on social media, was pleased to see it had happened.
“What a cool thing to wake up to”, she posted to social media yesterday.
“AROHA Official, I respect that decision, even if it was a marketing decision. Thank you for listening to us.”
“This is a win, and I want this to set the standards going forward.”
She told her followers to not give the brand a hard time and to move on.
“We need to set the standard for when other people are gonna do this.”
Sammy Carter is a journalist for the New Zealand Herald covering news in the Wellington region. She has previously worked at the Rotorua Daily Post.